


The Illusion of Knowing Someone

by Lazy_art_girl



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily, Batfamily meets Wonder Woman, Bruce Wayne Has Too Many Kids, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce wayne loves his kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:42:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24598462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazy_art_girl/pseuds/Lazy_art_girl
Summary: After a Justice League battle, Diana notices Batman acting strange and is in need of a ride. She let's him borrow her invisible jet, but then decides to follow him back to Gotham in case there's trouble. Little does she know how wrong she is.AKA Diana meets the Batfamily
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 12
Kudos: 455





	The Illusion of Knowing Someone

The broken structure groaned within Diana’s hands as she lifted the fallen wall. Wide brown eyes stared at her. The young woman remained where she was, cradling her infant in fear.

“Estás seguro,” Wonder Woman gently spoke with a smile. After a moment of hesitation, the mother rose from her hiding spot.

“Muchas gracias señora!” The woman cried with tears running down her dirty face. Diana let the wall fall down again and directed the woman to where other villagers were gathering for medical attention.

Diana and the rest of the league, Superman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, Captain Marvel, Flash, and Batman, were currently in Isla, Spain, a small farming community along the Bay of Briscay. They had just finished taking care of an extraterrestrial situation. The aliens, called Trinitarians, lacked skills in combat due to only having three limbs, but made up for it with their impressive technology.

They had come in search of one of their own who had gone missing. Misinterpreting earthen customs and languages, the trinitarians had attacked believing that their lost one had been killed by the villagers. It was Batman who had found a way of communicating with the aliens via their technology. 

It turned out that the young trinitarian had come to earth to explore. When his family came looking for him, they mistranslated “huerto” for “muetro”. So instead of believing their relative was in the nearby orchard, they thought he was dead and attacked the village in a greifen rage.

After Batman’s discovery, the young trinitarian was found and sent back home with his family. The justice league was currently helping the villagers that were hurt in the fight.

_Clank!_

Diana turned around to face Batman, who was standing beside his battle-damaged jet. A side panel was open, and he was tinkering with the wiring. She studied him as he worked to fix his damaged aircraft. Something about his stance seemed off.

She approached him, “Batman?”

“What?”

Diana paused at the harsh tone in his voice. It was a steel edge she had heard many times before, but never directed at her.

_Something’s wrong…_

Batman continued on with his restoration of his plane as if she hadn’t spoken to him.

“What is wrong? Are the trinitarians returni--”

“No.” There was a pause. “I-- I must return to Gotham.” Batman appeared more tense than usual. 

_Aha! So that is what is bothering him._ Diana was not entirely certain what Batman’s powers were. She suspected something similar to having the third eye. It would explain how he knew everything about everyone and how he always had a plan the moment a problem arose.

But whatever his powers were, it wasn’t the ability to fly.

Diana smiled, “Would you like to borrow my jet?”

Batman froze. He slowly turned to look at her. He showed no visible emotion as usual.

“I saw your jet go down in the battle. And while I know little about machinery, even I can tell it will take time to fix your plane.” The left wing of the aircraft was severely bent and the air smelled of burning metal.

“My jet is just outside the village. You may borrow it in order to return to Gotham.”

Batman gave a kurt knodd. Diana began leading him toward it. She understood the dark knight’s protectiveness of Gotham. She felt the same way regarding her own home, Themyscira. It was one of the many things she admired about the man.

“Do you require any further as--”

“No.” When they reached her aircraft, Batman paused. Sounding almost hesitant, “Thank you, Diana.”

She smiled in response. Without another word, Batman easily found and entered the jet, despite it’s invisibility. In very little time, Batman ignited the plane’s engines and was soaring west towards Gotham.

Diana was more than happy to help, and while she normally tried not to interfere with Batman’s life, something was bothering her. _He seemed… worried- or at least something like that. Something must be very wrong in Gotham._

With that conclusion in her mind, Wonder Woman decided to follow Batman in order to assist him. Following her invisible jet was… challenging to say the least. Nevertheless, she was soon watching Batman land her plane on a building in what looked to be the worst part of town. There was trash on the street and grime on the walls. 

Batman turned off the engines and opened the hatch. But it wasn’t Batman who came out. Instead it was a man dressed in jeans, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes. His well-worn black baseball cap had a symbol of what appeared to be the helmet of a medieval knight.

 _By the gods… could this be Batman… without his suit on?_ Diana couldn’t believe her eyes. She had seen Batman enter her jet. She followed it, so she knew no one else had boarded. 

Diana studied the man as he climbed down the fire escape. Even with the hat, she could see dark hair that was beginning to grey at the temples. But that wasn’t helpful since she had never seen Batman without his cowl on.

He was of the right size and build of Batman, and he climbed down with ease, landing on the ground sure footed. He walked with an aura of urgency down the alley.

Using a little amazon magic, she too was soon dressed in civilian clothing as she followed Batman. At the end of the alley, was a clinic. Batman quickly entered.

The man walked sure footed, like Batman did, always appearing as he had been there before. He strode down the hallway and speedily turned down another.

Diana temporarily lost sight of him as a nurse opened a door and ran through right in front of her. Through the doorway, she caught a glimpse of a small group of young adults and a child. There were four males, all with black hair. The largest of the males was ruffling the hair of the child who’s scowl could have matched Batman’s.

She shook her head. _No time to be wondering about… have to find that man._ Diana quickly turned down the same hallway he had, just in time to see him slip into a room.

She hurried to the door, only to jerk out of sight as she glimpsed through the window of the door. Through it, Diana had seen a woman with red hair laying on the room’s bed and cradling an infant.

Turning around, Diana began to notice her surroundings. She was in the maternity ward of the clinic. Seeing the room next to the one Batman had entered was empty, she quietly slipped in, leaving the lights off.

Even though her hearing was nowhere near as refined as Kal-El’s was, Diana could still easily hear through the thin walls of the old building.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.” When the man spoke, it was just as low as Batman’s but softer somehow.

“Don’t be,” the voice was sweet and feminine. “We saw you on the news. All that matters is that you’re here now.”

 _S_ _o she is aware of who he is… does that she’s his-_ Diana cut off her thought.

“Is it… I mean…”

“Mar’i”

“A girl?” Batman’s voice was full of wonder.

“Would you like to hold her?”

Diana could hear the infant squirm and start to fuss as she was handed over, but quickly settled down.

“She has your eyes.”

“And her father’s hair,” the woman replied, her voice filled with love and pride.

Diana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Batman had always seemed so alone in the world, like she was. When she had first met the caped crusader, she had asked who he was. While holding the lasso of truth, he had answered, “Batman.” That meant he did not have a civilian life like Clark and other leaguers did. Most of the league members didn’t even believe he had a life outside of the cowl.

Which meant that it was _Batman_ who had a family. It was Batman who, she assumed, was with the woman, the woman he had a child with. The burning sensation in her throat and the fire behind her eyes increased. 

When she had met Batman almost three years ago, she had been new to man’s world. There had been so much that she hadn’t known of. Things like ice-cream, children, and so much more. Like growing to care for someone, caring in a different way than how she cared for her sisters.

“Where is everyone?” Batman asked.

_Everyone?_

“Leslie came in and yelled at them for not letting me rest, so they went to go eat,” the woman replied. There was a low chuckle in response. 

_Did he… did Batman just laugh?_

“I’m sure she did,” Batman spoke, “but wouldn’t that also include Mar’i?”

“Yes,” she chuckled, “but I couldn’t put her down.”

“I can see why.”

There was a moment of silence before the woman spoke again, “She likes you.” 

The room fell silent for a moment before their door was suddenly opened.

“Father.”

_Father?_

“You’re here!”

“How’d you get here so fast?”

“Yeah, what the replacement said. We saw the batjet go down on the news.”

The voices overlapped each other slightly, but Diana could tell that there were four new voices, all male, one distinctly belonging to a child.

“Wait a minute”

“Oh my god.”

“Are you… are you crying Father?”

“Holy shit I think he is.”

There was a faint _click ._

“Oo! Timbers please tell me you got a picture!”

“Of course Jaybird.”

There was a clearing of a throat. “Diana was kind enough to let me borrow her jet.”

There was a moment of silence.

“You have Wonder Woman’s invisible jet?” The voice was full of disbelief and excitement.

_So they also know who he is… and who I am._

Batman’s low voice responded, “Yes, and don’t even think about taking it for a joyride Jason.”

“Kill-joy.” 

There was a snicker from one of the other males.

“Speaking of Wonder Woman, we saw a lady pass by us that looked just like her.”

“When?”

“Just a few minutes ago, why? You don't think she-”

“Yes.” 

Diana frantically started towards the door as she heard the baby squirm as she was once again passed to another’s arms and a soft whisper, “She’s beautiful, chum.”

Something else was said in return, but she was in too much of a rush to get out before Batman caught her. While he had never been violent with anyone in the League before, no one had ever pried into his personal life as she had just done.

Leaving the room, she walked quickly, but slow enough not to draw attention to herself. She tried walking with the mortals in the hallway, hoping to blend in. She didn’t dare look behind her. Batman would without a doubt recognize her face, but maybe not the rest of her. Soon she was exiting the clinic and walking down the alley. She finally risked looking behind her. Seeing no one following, she turned back around and--

There he was. He still had his baseball cap on but not the shades.

_Blue… I always wondered what color they were._

His eyes were bright blue. It was a sharp contrast to his black hair and pale skin. There were wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. Despite never seeing Batman without his mask, his face seemed… almost familiar.

“Diana, care to explain what you are doing here?” Diana had thought that without the cowl, it might be different. But no, when he spoke, he was unemotional as a rock. No anger or happiness, simply impassive and hard.

“After the battle, you seemed… tense. I had never seen you show signs of distress before. I was worried that something bad had happened so I followed in order to assist you,” Diana spoke defensively.

“I don’t need help,” Batman stated, “and as you can see, there is no trouble.”

“I know you don’t need help! I only ever offer because that’s what friends do!”

There is a flicker of surprise on his face before it disappears as quickly as it came.

“But I guess we never were, were we?” Diana forced herself to look him in the eye, despite the ache it caused in her heart. “You have a whole life, a family, that you kept a secret from everyone… even me.”

Without waiting for a response, Diana turned and walked away.

“Bruce.”

“What?” She asked, genuinely confused by his word.

Batman looked almost… shy, “My name is Bruce.”

Diana stood there in shock. Diana tried to think of a response, but Batman- _Bruce-_ had just told her his name.

“Ahem.”

Diana turned beside her to see a young man in his early to mid twenties. He had black hair and bright blue eyes, similar to Batman. He walked up to Batman’s side. He was shorter and leaner than Batman, but he still cut an impressive figure. Diana had no doubt that he knew how to fight.

“Diana,” the man spoke in a friendly tone, “It's an honor to meet you. My name is Dick”

Dick held his hand out, and Diana shook it. As she did, she recognized him from the group of males she had passed by earlier. “Would you like to come inside and meet everyone?”

“What?” She asked in surprise. Diana glanced at Batman cautiously, who was also looking mildly surprised.

When the young man saw this, his smile grew even bigger, “Oh, don’t mind Mr. Grumpy Pants over here; he’s just too shy to ask you himself.”

Diana couldn’t help but chuckle when Dick said this. The older man- _Bruce_ _-_ looked down at his feet as if he was actually shy, but not before she heard a soft rush of air from him and a small twitch in his lips as if he was also suppressing a laugh.

“I’d love to,” the Amazon smiled.

Dick led the way back into the clinic with Bruce following in the back of the line. Mostly directed at Batman, he said, “It’s nice to finally meet some of B’s friends. We’ve been trying to get B to introduce everyone to us, but he’s been really stubborn about it. It’s too bad that the whole family isn’t here though. Steph had to leave for her exam, Cass has rehearsal, and Alfie gave them both a ride. Babs, Kate, and Duke haven’t made it yet and probably won’t. There was a robbery at Gotham National again so they’re taking care of it. Cat texted a little bit ago that she’s on her way over.”

The man talked almost as fast as the Flash did; Diana was a bit overwhelmed with everything Dick was rambling on about. _W ho are all those people he spoke of? Did he refer to the league as Batman’s friends? Does Batman really think of me.. of all of us as .. friends? It didn’t seem like that, but the man had called Batman shy. He’s never seemed shy… at least not when it comes to doing hero work. He’s always been very outspoken with his plans of action. He also mentioned people taking care of a robbery. Does that mean Batman is not the only hero in Gotham?_

Soon they were back where they started. The red-headed woman was smiling fondly at the young boy who was holding the baby. Walking into the room, Diana noticed something that she hadn’t earlier. The woman’s eyes were completely green, and her skin had an orangish tint to it.

 _She’s an alien,_ Diana thought. It was surprising since Batman had always seemed hostile towards extraterrestrials and metas before.

As Diana entered the room, all but the infant’s eyes turned towards her, most of them blue, like Batman’s. One of them with a tint of green, belonging to a young but large man with a streak of white hair, widened at the sight of her. The man began elbowing the teenager beside him.

“Quit it Jay,” the teenager had blue eyes just like most of the other males, but he had dark circles around them as if he hadn’t slept recently.

The man continued to elbow him.

“Stop it!”

There was another nudge.

“I see it’s Wonder Woman so quit it!”

The child spoke up, “Yes Todd, stop embarrassing yourself in front of the Amazon.”

The man opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Batman - _no, Bruce_ \- spoke, “Boys.” The males silented. 

And they remained silent as they looked expectantly between Batman and Diana.

“You gonna introduce us, old man?” the man with the white streak in his hair asked.

The Batman cleared his throat. He gestured towards Dick, “Yes, Dick has already introduced himself. This is Tim,” he pointed at the tired teenager, “Jason,” the young man waved, “Damian,” the boy’s green eyes stared into hers as she made eye contact, “Kory,” the alien girl smiled, “and this is--”

“This is Mar’i!” Dick gleefully interrupted Batman as he sat down beside Kory and put his arm around her. 

The child - _Damian was it?_ \- handed the infant back to her mother who added, “Our daughter.”

 _Their daughter?_ Diana thought. She smiled in response as the two smiled down at their daughter as if she was the most precious thing on earth. But Diana guessed that to them, she was. _If the infant is their daughter, then how does Batman fit into this… and the other boys? And one of them called another one Father._

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Diana paused, not wishing to intrude any further than she already had, “How do you all know one another?”

The four black haired males all looked at Batman who took a moment to clear his throat before answering, “These are my sons.”

“What?” Diana couldn’t help but say.

Before her question was answered though, a doctor walked into the room. She was elderly with grey hair and brown eyes. The wrinkles by her eyes crinkled when she smiled warmly at the sight of Bruce. “Bruce, you made it, I hope you weren’t in---” The doctor halted when she saw Diana.

“She knows, Dr. Thompkins,” Bruce told her.

“Yeah, she’s Wonder Woman!” Jason, she believed, excitedly added.

“Avwww, Bat, did you make a friend?” Diana couldn’t help but jump at the sound of a new voice from right behind her. She was tall and lean. Her black hair was styled in a pixie cut, and her emerald green eyes almost looked tilted like a cat’s. She was smirking as she went to stand by Bruce.

“Did you get the intel about Falcone’s plans for the shipyard?” he asked.

“Yep,” she replied, “At o-one hundred tonight, they plan to—“ 

“Hey,” Jason interceded, “ You two love birds can discuss work later.”

“Selina,” Dick carried his daughter over to the newly arrived woman, “meet your granddaughter, Mar’i.”

The woman looked surprised and hesitant as she accepted the infant. “Really?”

Dick and Kory looked at one another, before Kory answered, “Who else is there?”

Selina smiled down at Mar’i. “Thank you. She’s beautiful.”

 _So Selina is Batman’s wife._ Diana didn’t know what to think. First Batman seemed so alone and then he wasn’t. But she still didn’t know who everyone else was. Her head was spinning at everything that was happening. _I thought I knew him, but that was an illusion._

“Don't worry about not knowing what’s going on,” Kory looked at Diana with sympathy. “I know exactly how much it is to take in.”

Selina quickly glared at Bruce, who looked a little scared at the sudden look, “Did you not explain anything to her.” The man remained silent. “Of course you didn’t, no wonder why she looks so lost.” Selina muttered under her breath. She looked expectantly at Bruce.

After appearing to have a silent conversation with Selina, he sighed. “Diana.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “The boys here are four of my children. I also have a daughter named Cassandra and another boy, Duke. Kory is Dick’s girlfriend, and Selina is my wife. Dr. Thompkins here is a close friend of the family.”

_Batman has kids… six of them._

In her moment of silently processing this, he continued, “There’s also Barbara and Stephanie, who are practically part of the family too with how close they are with the kids.”

Diana still was shocked by what she was hearing. Sure she had been seeing it for the last ten minutes, but it still didn’t compute with who she believed Batman to be.

Batman then added, “There’s also Alfred who’s like a father to me and my cousin Kate, who is like an aunt to the kids.”

_How many are there?_

“I think we broke her,” the tired teenager, Tim, loudly whispered.

“I hope not,” Jason replied, “ I was going to ask if I could ride in her invisible jet.”

“Tt, that’s what you are worried about?” The child Damian asked.

“No,” Diana finally managed to speak,” I apologize. This is a lot to take in.”

“Oh, we get it,” Dick chimed in.

Diana turned to Bruce, “I feel the need to apologize to you; I never really saw you as one to have such a large family.”

Bruce shifted in his chair, “It’s fine.”

“Don’t worry,” Tim added, “you are _not_ the first person to be surprised by it.”

“Yeah, that’s because _someone_ always acts like an emotional constipated asshole.”

“Language, Jason,” Batman chided.

“True, but he also thinks grunting is an acceptable form of communicating,” Selina teased.

Instead of being angry, the man simply rolled his eyes.

“I should be leaving,” Diana intervened, “ I feel like I have intruded long enough.”

“Oh, no, we’ve been trying to get Bat to introduce us since the league formed,” Selina said.

“And the rest of you should be leaving too,” Dr. Thompkins spoke up, “ Kory and Mar’i should be resting.”

“Ah, Leslie,” the boys pouted.

“You heard her,” said Bruce.

She said her goodbyes as they left the room. As she walked away, she couldn’t help but glance behind her at them. Diana didn’t know what her feelings towards Batman were. She knew it hurt that he never told her about his family. But seeing him surrounded by them, seeing him smile for the first time, brought a smile to her own face.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work posted. I hope you liked it!


End file.
